The Manchurian Candidate

No, really:

Following Russia’s meddling in the 2016 US elections and growing evidence of interference by authoritarian regimes in other democracies, it is now feared that Canada’s federal elections in October could become the latest target in a mounting challenge to democratic processes worldwide.

While attention has rightly focused on Russia, Ottawa also needs to contend with the possibility of interference by Beijing. At the heart of rising apprehensions about China’s interference is the escalating dispute over the arrest and possible extradition to the US by Canada of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in December 2018 on suspicion of fraud and breaching US sanctions on Iran.

Canada’s arrest of one of its “princesses” is seen as an affront to Beijing’s dignity by what the Chinese regime regards as, at best, a “middle power.” Indeed, it seems to have convinced senior cadres in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of the need to teach Canada a lesson. Among the retaliatory measures adopted by Beijing, two Canadian nationals, Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, a businessman, have been detained by Chinese authorities and face charges of engaging in espionage. In addition to hostage-taking, the CCP has weaponized trade by banning imports of canola oil, primarily from parts of Canada that have historically been a vulnerability for the Liberal Party in election time.

Beijing’s arguably disproportionate response to the Meng incident seems to have failed to compel the Trudeau government to intervene in judicial processes surrounding Meng’s extradition. As a result, the Chinese regime now has every reason to regard the upcoming elections as an opportunity to secure Meng’s release and to engineer the election of a future government that is more to its liking.

This follows the extremely embarrassing though true plea of former Ambassador to China, John McCallum, for China to ease off its pressure on the Trudeau government lest the Tories win in October. In other words, to interfere:

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, John McCallum said China should go easy on Canada over the Huawei case to help the Liberals in the coming election.

“Anything that is more negative against Canada will help the Conservatives, (who) are much less friendly to China than the Liberals,” McCallum told the news outlet on Monday.

“I hope and I don’t see any reason why things will get worse, it would be nice if things will get better between now and (Canada’s federal) election (in October).” ...

Should we read that as China attempting to influence the Canadian election? For all the talk of Russian interference, any sound analysis of foreign interference in democracies around the world shows China as a major player.

They could make the move McCallum is calling for, they could do more.

How will it look now, after McCallum’s comments, if Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor are freed just before the election?

To their families, to their loved ones, it won’t matter. To the rest of the country, it will look like China is throwing Trudeau a bone because, as McCallum said, the Liberals are more friendly to China.

Try as she might, no one will believe Chrystia Freeland that the Liberals do not endorse, explicitly or otherwise, McCallum's foolish remarks. Her boss has made it abundantly clear on any number of occasions how he admires China (as his father did), how he is quite willing to take Chinese money, how he would rather have China as a trading partner than the US (seriously - is there no other country other than China that would value Canadian pork or beef?) and his pathetic toadying knows no bounds.


Who is Justin working for this week?

If McCallum had his way, China.


Also:

The one-man protest comes the day after Canada’s former ambassador to China, John McCallum, ignored the plight of the hostages in an interview with the South China Morning Post, instead making the case for the Trudeau Liberals’ re-election in the fall. He said China’s decision to cut trade with Canada was only helping the Conservatives who are “much less friendly to China than the Liberals.” ...

In January, more than 100 academics and former diplomats wrote an open letter to the Chinese president calling for the men’s release. Hicks is the first protester making this demand at the Chinese consulate in Toronto, says a 50-year-old businessman who lives beside the consulate, even though the site often attracts other protesters, including people who stand against China’s treatment of Tibetans and members of the Uighur and Falun Gong minorities.

“I’m kind of perplexed also,” said Brian Gold, a friend of Spavor who wrote an op-ed about the case for iPolitics. “There was sort of an expectation that there might be more follow-up interest,” he said. He read one article urging Canadians to “not forget the Michaels,” he said, “yet that’s what’s happening.”

First of all, Canadians don't care. Secondly, China has made it clear to Justin who owns him.




(Paws up)